Comb box mechanism



Sept 29, l953 M. w. oDoM 2,653,354 y con/1B Box MEcHANIsM Filed March 8, 1949 JNVENTOR. l`

. M. w QDOM I l A ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 29, 1953 UNITED STATES ATENT yOFFICE COMB BOX MECHANISM Marvin W. Odom, Roswell, Ga. Application March 8, 1949, Serial No.v 80,200

1 Claim.

This invention relates to the production of yarn and cloth, and more particularly to carding mechanism, wherein ber is removed by combs from carding cylinders. Prior structures have not been satisfactory because of their expensive upkeep, their excessive use and waste of oil, and their generation of static electricity, by means of Which the lint was retained on the surface of the card.

Further the mechanism was short-lived, produced excessive vibration, generated heat, produced noise, and was subjected to excessive wear. Also, due to the excessive heat conducted to the comb, there was frequent breakage.

It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide an improved comb-operating mechanism or comb box, capable of being easily applied to existing structures, which lwill provide eifective and satisfactory lubrication of the parts, minimize friction and the generation of static electricity, require attention only once or twice a year, which will operate with minimum noise, without wasting lubricant, with upkeep reduced to a minimum, and in which the operation of the comb is more satisfactory and effective.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sealed comb box from which lint and dust are excluded, which also can be installed with unskilled labor and in a minimum of time, and in which certain of the parts can be reversed for changing the comb box from a right to a lefthand drive.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a comb box of rugged construction in which antifriction bearings are used to the fullest extent and in which sufficient lubricant may be retained to preclude the necessity for service over` long periods of time.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentl from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation illustrating one application of the invention;

Fig. 2, a top plan view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, a detailed section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4, a vertical section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5, a detailed section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6, a side elevation of a rock shaft supporting arm or bracket; and,

Fig. 7, a section on the line l-l of Fig. 6.

With continued reference to the drawing there is shown in Fig. 1 a carding cylinder Ill having a shaft Il rotatably mounted in bearings I2. The surface of the cylinder I0 is covered with cards I3 having teeth i4 mounted thereon which serve to card the material being fed thereto. The material advances around the surface of the carding cylinder I@ in the form of a web I5 Which must be removed from the teeth I4 for further operations thereon.

The web of the material I5 is commonly removed from the teeth I4 of the cards I3 by a dofer comb I6 mounted for oscillatory movement adjacent the surface of the card and serving to remove the material I5 in a continuous web which may be received between feed rolls I1 for feeding to a subsequent operation.

In order to oscillate and support the dofer comb I5 there is provided a comb box I3 having a base I9 secured to the bed of the carding machine. Comb box I8 which is composed of a bottom 2E and upstanding side walls 2l and 22 is secured to a base I9 by bolts or cap screws 23 extending through the base and threaded into the bottom 20. Base I9 is provided with an extension 24 having a slot 25 in the upper surface thereof for reception of a securing bolt 26. This bolt passes through the bed 2l of the carding machine and serves to secure the comb box in position thereon. Additional securing means in the form of a bolt may be utilized if desired and this bolt would pass through the base 2l of the carding machine and a slot 28 provided in the bottom 2i? of the comb box.

Wall 22 of the comb box I8 is provided adjacent the lower edge thereof with a box 29 having la bore 3o therein serving to receive spaced antifriction bearings 3l. Mounted in these bearings is a drive shaft 32 provided with a drive pulley 33 mounted on the outer end thereof by means of a set screw 34 and key 35 disposed in keyway 36 in the shaft 32. The inner end of shaft 32 is provided with a crank pin 3l which operates in a manner to be presently described.

Adjacent the upper edges ofside Walls 2l and 22 there is provided apertures 38 and 39 in which are disposed antifriction bearings fili and 4I. Mounted in these bearings is a sleeve 42. A rocker arm 43 is fixed to the sleeve 42 by one or more set screws 41% engaging a woodrui key 45 disposed in a keyway in the sleeve d2. The rocker arm 43 is also provided with a laterally extending pin46.

A connecting link 4l shown in detail in Fig. 5 is provided with recesses 48 and 49 in which are disposed anti-friction bearings 5I) and 5I. In order to properly lubricate bearings 50 and 5i a lubrication tting 52 is disposed at one end of the link and communicates with a bore 53 extending lengthwise of the link and communicating with recesses 43 and A9 to conduct lubricant from the fitting 52 to the bearings 53 and 5i. Bearing Sii in link 4i is mounted on pin 45 extending from rocker arm 43 and bearing 5l is mounted on crank pin 3i extending from the inner end of shaft 32 and it will therefore be seen that upon rotation of shaft 32 an oscillatory movement will be imparted to sleeve ft2. A lubrication fitting 54 may be mounted in the box 2S for conveniently supplying lubricant to the bearings 3i in which drive shaft 32 is mounted.

Comb box I8 is positioned on the carding machine as shown in Figs. l and 2 and serves to support one end of a rock shaft 55 on which doifer comb iii is mounted by radially extending arms 5?. Rock shaft 55 is provided at one end thereof with a reduced portion 58 of a diameter to be slidably but snugly received within the sleeve 62. in order to lock the reduced portion 55 against movement relative to sleeve 42 the latter is provided with an internal annular recess 5% in which is disposed a split ring 60. Received about the sleeve l2 is a collar i5! which threadedly receives one or more set screws '5E extending through the sleeve d2 and engaging the outer surface of split ring S. Movement of set screw 62 inwardly clamps the split ring t tightly against the surface of reduced portion 58 and firmly locks the same in position against movement relative to sleeve t2. Collar 6i serves to provide a sufficient length of thread to receive the set screw 62 in order to'prevent stripping thereof in the event excessive pressure is exerted in tightening the same.

The opposite end of rock shaft :i is provided with a reduced portion 63 which is adapted to be mounted in an antifriction bearing 54 mounted in a tail stock or bracket 65 by a bearing cap 5S secured in place by screw threaded fastening means t? or the like. Tail stock 65 is provided with a base 68 having a slot 69 in the upper surface thereof for reception of fastening means to secure the same to the base of the carding machine.

The carding cylinder It is driven by a belt l@ engaging a pulley l!! mounted on a drive shaft 72 which in turn is connected by suitable means to cylinder shaft il. Also mounted on drive shaft 'i2 is a pulley 13 engaging a belt 'I4 trained over pulley 33 mounted on the drive shaft 32 of the comb box i8. Rotation of the drive shaft 32 through the action of belt 'i4 will serve to impart an oscillatory movement to the rock shaft and consequently to the doffer comb I6. The two extremes of movement of the comb I6 are shown in full lines and in phantom in Fig. 1 and this movement tends to strip the web of material I5 from the teeth of the cards and permits feeding thereof by the feed roll i1 to a subsequent operation.

Since carding machines may be provided with either right or left hand drives it is essential in the interest of economy and convenience that the comb box be easily adapted to either type of machine and such requirement is solved by this invention in a very simple yet efcient manner. In order to adapt the comb box for mounting at the opposite end of the carding machine from that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, it is only necessary to remove the rock shaft from the bracket t5 and sleeve t2 and to remove fastening screws 23 and reverse the position of the comb box I8 on the base I9. The base I9 may then be secured in the position normally occupied by the bracket S5 and the bracket S5 disposed at the opposite end of the machine. The rock shaft is then replaced with reduced end 63 engaging the sleeve 42 and with reduced end 58 engaging the bearing in tail stock 55. This simple operation efliciently adapts the comb box of this invention to use on carding machines having either a right or left hand drive.

Since there is considerable lint present around carding machines it is desirable that the comb box mechanism be protected therefrom and for this purpose a tightly fitting cover 'i5 is provided which may be conveniently formed of transparent material in order to permit observation of the operation of the comb box mechanism. This cover may be secured in place by screw threaded fasteners 'le or the like engaging the frame of the comb box.

During the carding operation considerable static electricity is generated and since this impedes separation of the material from the cards and also introduces other undesirable effects it is necessary that an adequate means be provided for removing such static electricity. The comb box of this invention is formed of static conducting material and provides such a static removing mea-ns in that the same is grounded to the frame of the carding mechanism and provides an adequate path to ground for the static through the side walls 2! and 22, bearings iii and di, rock shaft 55, arms 57 and doifer comb it. This path efficiently conducts substantially all static electricity to ground and removes this troublesome problem from the carding operation.

It will be seen from the above description that there has been provided by this invention a very rugged yet relatively simple comb box mechanism in which the problem of proper lubrication, which heretofore has been a very serious one, is adequately taken care of in that bearings 69 and #ii are of the permanently lubricated sealed type and in which bearings 5t and 5l and Si may be conveniently lubricated by the injection of a proper lubricant through fittings 52 and Sli, sufficient lubricant being retained in the bearings to make lubrication necessary only at widely spaced intervals. Also, the comb box of this invention may conveniently be adapted to either right or left hand drives without the necessity of utilizing additional parts and the rock shaft is secured in place without burring thereof in order to facilitate disassembly or replacement thereof. The various moving parts of the comb box are of course properly balanced to reduce vibration thereof to a minimum.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawings and described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A comb box comprising pair of spaced walls, bearings mounted in said walls in axial alignment, a cylindrical sleeve of substantially uniform cutside diameter, rotatably mounted in said bearings, the interior bore of said sleeve being of a size to receive the reduced end of the rock shaft of a doffer comb, a rocker arm removably mounted on said sleeve for axial movement relative thereto and having means for xedly securing said rocker arm in position on said sleeve, a link pivotally connected to the free end of said rocker arm, a crank shaft rotatably mounted in one Wall of said box and having its crank throw pivotally connected to the other end of said link, said crank producing oscillation of said sleeve upon rotation thereof, said sleeve being provided With a circumferential groove on its inner periphery, a split ring mounted in said groove and being of such dimensions as to permit the reduced end of the rock shaft of the doifer comb to freely slide through the bore of the sleeve, a collar surrounding said sleeve, a set screw threaded in said collar and projecting through said sleeve for pressing said split ring against the doffer rock shaft whereby movement of the sleeve is imparted to saiddoffer rock shaft, said sleeve being adapted to be inserted in position by axial movement through either side Wall.

MARVIN W. ODOM.

References Cited in the le of this patentV UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,723,335 Dyess Aug. 6, 1929 2,113,975 Hunt May 3l, 1938 2,222,334 Brouwer Nov. 19, 1940 2,413,832 Kay et al. Jan. 7, 1947 

